Boom mounting



Nov. 12, 1968 v. H. TREVISAN BOOM MOUNT I NG Filed Jan. 16, 1967 HUM!!! United States Patent 3,410,585 BOOM MOUNTING Virgil H. Trevisan, 825 Lincoln Ave, Pitman, NJ. 08071 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 545,177, Oct. 21, 1965. This application Jan. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 609,419

Claims. (Cl. 287-21) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A universal mounting is provided for a swinging boom with a generally spherical foot. The mounting is rotatable azimuthally on a supporting boom step and includes a socket member having a sloping upper surface hollowed to receive the boom foot, which is retained there-in by split-ring means on the sloping surface.

This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 545,177 filed October 21, 1965 for Cargo Transferral and now Pat. No. 3,303,939, which was a division of a prior application, now Pat. No. 3,249,234, for Shipboard Boom and Rigging.

This invention relates to a boom mounting, especially a universal mounting for a swinging boom, as is used in the loading and unloading of a ship, for instance. The mounting accommodates a boom having a generally spherical foot, fitting about halfway into a corresponding socket member that is rotatable azimuthally on a supporting boom step. The socket member receives the boom foot in its hollowed sloping upper surface to which are fastened retaining means of split-ring type closely surrounding part of the otherwise exposed portion of the boom foot and thereby holding it rotatably in the socket member.

The usual gooseneck mounting for the foot of a boom is susceptible to structural failure from overstressing, particularly when the boom is moved azimuthally at high angles of elevation. Devices for remedying that defect either are insufiiciently dependable functionally or overly complex structurally and in both cases diflicult to maintain.

A primary object of the present invention is provision of a universal boom mounting that will swing readily in azimuth without overstressing regardless of the angle of elevation of the boom.

Another object is provision of such a mounting that is relatively maintenance-free but that is readil disassembled for removal of the boom and for repair or replacement of parts as may be appropriate after extended periods of hard usage.

A further object is provision of such a mounting that readily accommodates stowage of the boom in a horizontal position or even inclined downward.

Other objects of the present invention, together with means and methods for attaining the various objects, will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying diagrams of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly cut away and in section, of a universal boom mounting of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the same boom mounting unit and the boom rotated in azimuth; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the apparatus of the last two views.

In general, the objects of the present invention are accomplished by providing a universal boom mounting, for use with a boom having a rounded foot, and including a socket member hollowed at one exterior surface and thereby adapted to receive the rounded foot of the boom Patented Nov. 12, 1968 rotatably therein, ring means for retaining the boom foot in the socket, and a boom step adapted to support the socket member for pivoting azimuthally. In particular, where the rounded foot of the boom is substantially spherical or ball-shaped, the socket member has a substantially hemispherical opening in the top surface thereof to receive it for universal rotation and has detachable ring means secured to the top surface and thereby securing the boom therein; the socket member has a vertical pin extending from the bottom thereof, and the boom step has a vertical bore in which the pin first for pivotal rotation. These features are shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, inclusive.

FIG. 1 shows, head-on, boom step 4 affixed to and extending forward from king post 5 (only part of the vertical extent thereof being shown). Part of the boom step is sectioned away to show vertical bore 9 therein. Socket member 11 has a wedge-shaped body with inclined face 12. Vertical pin 10 with inverted shoulder 8 extends downward from the base of the body into recess 7 and concentric bore 9 of the boom step, permitting the member to rotate thereon, with the end of the pin threaded and carrying retaining nut 20 and washer 19. FIG. 2 shows the boom step head-on as in FIG. 1 but with the socket member rotated about forty five degrees in azimuth with regard thereto (counterclockwise as viewed above).

Boom 6 (only the lower part of which is shown in these views) has lower flanged portion 1 6 (partially hidden in FIGS. 1 and 2) interconnected to spherical foot or ball 18 by narrow interconnecting portion 17. FIG. 3 shows the foot of the boom, the mount therefor, and the boom step separated therefore in an exploded view. Split rings or ring segments 14a, 141;, whose under surface (not shown) preferably is concave in the vicinity of the inner edge to fit against the upper surface of ball 18, are retained about interconnecting portion 17 of the boom against inclined face 12 of the mount by bolts or screw 15. Socket 13 in the inclined face of the socket member receives the boom foot for universal rotation therein. When the boom swings sufiiciently in azimuth so that the interconnecting portion engages the inner edge of either split ring, the entire mount rotates azimuthally to whatever extent is required. Of course, the ring opening is large enough (and the encircled interconnecting portion of the boom small enough) to permit the boom to be raised vertically and lowered through ninety degrees or somewhat more without engaging the inner side edges of split rings, while the boom foot itself is large enough and the ring opening small enough that the underlying surfaces of the rings abut and are effective to retain the boom foot in the socket.

Each split ring curves through somewhat less than a half circle so that when assembled with their ends touching along a line bisecting the upper half of inclined face 12 of wedge-shaped member 11 their opposite ends are spaced apart sufiiciently to receive narrow interconnecting portion 17 of the boom foot and thereby facilitate locating the head of the boom somewhat at the same level as, or even somewhat lower than, the foot. The advantage of such mounting over conventional go-osenecks or the like, many of which restrict stowage position as well as the free lateral movement of the boom, with consequent possibility of breaking, are apparent.

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been illustrated and described, various modifications may be made therein, such as adding, selecting, combining, or subdividing component parts or changing the orientation, size, or shape thereof, while retaining the advantages of the inventive concept. For example, the socket member may be provided with one or more appropriate bores from the exterior to the hollowed portion thereof, each with a grease fitting at the exterior end, to reduce frictional forces between the boom foot and the socket,

as may be desirable with lheavy booms; additionally, bearings may (but normally need not) be located similarly at the concave surface for a like purpose. The invention itself, With or without such modifications, is defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mounting for a boom having a substantially spherically rounded foot, comprising a socket member having a substantially fiat surface hollowed substantially hemispherically to receive the rounded boom foot, that surface of the socket member being inclined with respect to the axis of azimuthal rotation, retaining means detachab'ly secured to that surface of the socket member for abutting part of the boom foot to keep it in the socket, and a boom step pivot-ally carrying the socket member for azimuthal movement, the boom step having an axial bore therein and the socket member having a pin extending from the under surface thereof and fitting rotatably in the bore.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the retaining means comprises a plurality of ring segments lhaving conoave under surfaces to abut the rounded boom foot.

3. In a boom. mounting, the improvement comprising a wedge-shaped member having a socket in an inclined upper face thereof, a plurality of ring segments surrounding the socket on that inclined face, and means for detachably securing the ring segments to that inclined face about the socket, wherein the ring segments when secured to that inclined face are spaced apart at the lowermost portion of that face to accommodate a portion of the boom when oriented in a downwardly sloping position from the boom foot outward.

4. In a boom mounting, the improvement comprising a Wedge-shaped member having a socket in an inclined upper face thereof, and having a horizontal lower surface and a pin extending vertically downward therefrom in alignment with the axis of the socket in the inclined upper face, a plurality of ring segments surrounding the socket on that inclined face, and means for detachably securing the ring segments to that inclined face about the socket.

5. In combination, a wedge-shaped member having a socket in an inclined upper face thereof, a plurality of ring segments surrounding the socket on that inclined face, and means for detachably securing the ring segments to that inclined face about the socket, and a boom having a generally spherical foot fitting in the socket, and an adjacent narrowed portion fitting between spaced ring segments at the lowermost surface of the inclined upper face of the socket member when the boom is in a lowered or stowed position, the ring segments having concave under surfaces abutting the spherical boom foot and being detachably secured to that inclined face to retain the boom foot in the socket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 652,401 6/1900 Mossman 2l270 1,720,982 7/1929 Van Brunt 28787 1,776,649 9/1930 Boykin 28787 2,852,290 9/1958 Orstett 28791 X 3,176,805 4/1965 Gandy 287--87 X 3,193,313 7/1965 Stiglich 28793 FOREIGN PATENTS 24,991 1911 Great Britain.

CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner.

A. KUNDRAT, Assistant Examiner. 

